


Of All The Times

by miera



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-29
Updated: 2008-09-29
Packaged: 2017-11-05 03:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/402181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miera/pseuds/miera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone's last Hershey bar becomes a birthday present, with a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of All The Times

**Author's Note:**

> Written after I asked for "vintage Sparky prompts" one day a few weeks ago.

When Carson finally released him, it was late afternoon. John slowly made his way back to his quarters. He was okay, just black and blue and sore all over and considering taking a vow never to follow Teyla into a bar again. It always ended badly.

John wasted no time once he was home, stripping off his clothes gingerly as he walked across the room towards the bathroom. He let his clothes fall on the floor for now. Usually he wasn't so messy but all he could think of right then was getting into the shower. He could clean up later. It wasn't like anyone was coming to inspect his quarters anyway. He turned the shower on as hot as he could stand it and stood under the spray for a good long while, letting the heat soothe the ache from his muscles.

Some birthday, he thought to himself. Though at least nobody else had found out. He hated people fussing over him, especially today. A good old fashioned bar brawl was preferable, really.

At last, he soaped himself up and rinsed off quickly, since even the Ancients couldn't supply hot water to a shower indefinitely. The military-issued towels weren't particularly nice, but they got the job done. Elizabeth had been reminiscing about soft fluffy towels from home a couple weeks ago. It was rare for her to say anything that direct about missing home. He suspected she'd only said it because they were alone out on her balcony at the time, and it had been pretty late at night. He'd been keeping an eye out on off-world missions for anything similar, but so far he hadn't seen anything.

He stepped out of the bathroom with the towel around his waist and paused. Something struck him as off, but he couldn't figure out what it was for a minute.

Something was on his pillow. He didn't remember seeing it when he came in, but he'd been pretty intent on getting into the shower at that point.

He leaned over and a smile broke out. There was a full-sized Hershey's bar on his pillow, one of the hottest commodities in Atlantis, and the hardest to come by. It had a yellow Post-It note attached. All it said was "Happy Birthday," but he knew the handwriting immediately. Even though they did most everything by e-mail in Atlantis, some things still required signatures, and that handwriting had been signing off on his duty rosters and mission reports for months.

He almost opened the candy bar right then and there, but he glanced at the clock. It was evening now, and by the time he got dressed and all, it would be a suitable time to nag Elizabeth out of her office and make her eat dinner. And maybe for dessert they could share her chocolate between them. Possibly in private in case anyone tried to steal it from them.

***

Elizabeth headed back towards her office and firmly tried to will the flush from her cheeks.

She knew John hadn't told anyone that it was his birthday, but that didn't mean the day had to go completely unmarked. She'd slipped into his quarters to leave her last Hershey bar on his pillow so it would be there when Carson let him out of the infirmary.

She'd miscalculated her timing, though.

It was her fault, she couldn't deny that. She'd gotten into John's quarters and curiosity had gotten the better of her. She didn't snoop, but she was looking around at his desk and things, ostensibly trying to pick a place to leave her present, when the door opened.

She'd frozen in place and opened her mouth to fumble through an explanation, but John hadn't so much as glanced in her direction.

Instead he'd started taking his clothes off. Right in front of her.

By that point she couldn't have made a sound if she'd wanted to. Half-terrified that he'd turn around and spot her, she'd also been pleading with the universe that he wouldn't stop. She got her wish. He kicked off his sneakers, then stripped off his shirt, revealing the large bruises on his back that made her wince even as her eyes traced the very nice line of his shoulders and his back muscles down to his hips.

Then he started unfastening his pants, which was when her cheeks started to heat badly.

The last thing she'd seen was John's bare backside as he shimmied out of his boxers, kicked them behind him and let the bathroom door slide shut as he reached over to turn on the shower. All without turning around.

Once the momentary paralysis had broken, she'd hurried over to the bed, left her gift on the pillow and made a hasty exit before she could be caught.

Now she just had to figure out how to get any more work done tonight, with the afterimage of John's naked body burned into her brain. She shook her head at herself. "Of all the times to be without chocolate," she muttered, getting into the transporter.


End file.
